Icing chamber for railway refrigerator cars and other structures



1935. E A. SWEELEY El AL 2,012,459

ICING CHAMBER FOR RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR CARS AND OTHER STRUCTURES Filed Jan. 9, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS [Z arm 5 Swa /e MP 17 7: 1761552? 1935- E. A. SWEELEY ET AL 2,012,459

ICING CHAMBER FOR RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR CARS AND OTHER STRUCTURES Filed Jan. 9, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2' I VENTO fiwar'd aswee 'ey R5 W- ATTORNEY I u 1935. E. A. SWEELEY El AL 2,012,459

ICING CHAMBER FOR RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR CARS AND OTHER STRUCTURES Filed Jan. 9, "1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Flam INVEN TORS flee/gl de swee/ey M) A TTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 27, 1935 PATENT OFFICE.

. 2,012,459 ICING CHAMBER FOR RAILWAY REFRIG- ERATOR- CARS TURES ANDv OTHER STRUC- EdwardA. Sweeley, Alexandria, Va., and Norman T., Anderson, Washington, D. 0.

Application January 9, 1934, Serial No. 705,934 10 Claims. (01. 62-49) Our invention relates to refrigerator cars, and more particularly to means for supporting ice in the ice bunker of the car, to provide ice space for full or part stage icing, and. also means for 5- attachment of the ice racks or grid supporting beams to their supports, whereby stability is obtained, and liability of damage to the parts materially lessened. g I I To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear the invention consists in the features hereinafter particularly described and then sought'to be clearly defined by the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, and in which:

Figure I is a plan sectional elevation along line AA of Figure II of a refrigerator car icing chamber;

Figure II is avertical cross sectional elevation along line BB of Figure III;

Figure III is a vertical longitudinal section along line C-C of Figure II; N

Figure IV is an enlarged detail view, in perspective, of the upper part-stage icing chamber bracket;

Figure V is an enlarged detail view, in perspective of, the lower bracket for full icing chamber;

Figure VI is an enlarged detail view showing the manner of attaching the upper bracket to posts of the icing chamber;

Figure VII is a vertical section showing splash irons to break or intercept the drop or fall of meltage of ice or ice and salt from the upper to the lower position of the ice supporting racks.

The drawings illustrate a railway refrigerator car I provided as usual with ice bunker or chamber 3, separated from the loading compartment 2 of the car by an insulated partition or bulkhead made up of a lining 4, suitable insulation 5, an insulation covering ,6, and posts I which may be of wood or metal, or a combination of both, so as to permit attaching of an ice basket screen 8 in a manner to provide airchannels 9 between the posts, see Figure I of the drawings. The body of the car consists of conventional posts 10 and. H, over which is a suitable insulation I2 and having an outside sheathing l3 and inside lining I l. The ice chamber, of which there will be one at each end of the car, is usually of the so-called full basket type which provides screens at the insulated partition or bulkhead asindicated at 8; Figure I of the drawings, and also at'the sides, asindicated at 15 and atflthe end as indicated at l6, Figure II of the drawings, said screens being spaced from the car lining M at the sides and the end of the ice chambers by posts IT and I8, respectively, see Figure I of the drawings. In the ice chambers, the ice 33 for full basket icing conditionsrests on ice racks or grates-l9, formed of wood or metal, and resting on transversely extending beams 20, preferably of I-beam type. The beams 20 are supported at opposite ends by suitable supports, such as designated by numeral 22 in Figure V of the drawings for full basket icing, or such as designated by the numeral 35 in Figure IV of the drawings for part stage icing. The bracket 35 may be made of steel or other metal and formed with pockets to receive the ends of beams 20, and provided with flanges M at opposite sides of the pockets, and with a flange 45 projecting outwardly from the bottom of the pockets and constituting a shelf on which the beams 26 will rest. Said flanges serve to stabilize the beams and prevent them from turning in the pockets of the brackets. These brackets are secured to upright wood or suitable posts 36 of the ice chamber by bolts 31 and 38 passing through holes 39 and 40 of bracket and through posts and also through U-shaped metal bands 42 embracing and reinforcing the posts and preventing them from splitting, when of Wood. The numeral M indicates a bolt passed through post 36 and band 42immediately beneath and transversely of bolt 31, see FigureVI, and which tends to resist stressesresulting from weight of ice in the ice chamber andto'prevent splitting of the post. For fullbasket icing the form of bracket illustrated in Figure IV may be used, which illustrates a wooden beam formed with pockets iii to receive the I-beams 20, the pockets being provided with metal facings 41 to protect the wooden beam against damage by the metal I-beams fittingin the pockets; the facings 41 are secured in place by bolts or screws 48 passed through ends of the facings and into the wooden beam, as illustrated in Figure V of the drawings. The ice rack supporting I-beams have secured to their under faces, near the ends of the beams, by rivets or otherwise, stops 46, preferably of angle-iron formation, so that they will contact with edge of the shelf 45 of the bracketillustrated in Figure IV, or with the face of the form of bracket illustrated in Figure V, and thus limit or restrict longitudinal movement of the ice rack supporting beams, and prevent them from shifting out of the pockets in which they fit.

It is obvious that the form of bracket shown in Figure IV or the form shown in Figure V may be usedat both ends of the ice rack supporting Ill beams,-or one form used at one end and the other form at the opposite end, as may be desired. If both forms of brackets are used in the same car it is preferred to use the form shown in Figure V at the bottom of the ice chamber, as illustrated in Figures II and III, and in that case the bracket 22 will be held in place by bolts 23 passing through holes 24 in the bracket and into a suitable part of the car body as may be selected.

If full icing conditions are desired in the car, the ice will be supported on the ice rack resting on the I- beams supported by the lowermost brackets of the icing chamber and the ice will extend up practically to the car ceiling 3:3, or

as far up as may be necessary. On the other e, hand, if only part stage icing is desired, then the ice will be supported on the upper ice rack which rests on the Ibeams, or supports, posi-..

tioned at the points for which the car is equipped, and thus only ice sufiicient for the refrigerating temperature needed or desired will be used, with thesresult of economy in the volume of ice consumed Otherwise stated, if full icing conditions be desired, ice will reston the ice racks or grids on the I-beams supported by the lowermost bracketor brackets at the bottom of the icing chamber, and inrthat case the ice will extend up towards the car ceilingas far as needed to give the degree of. refrigeration desired. On the other hand if only part stage icing is desired, the ice rack supporting beams are lifted or adjusted so as to be supported by the upper brackets, and ice placed on the racks supported by the elevated beams. Whenthat is the case only the upper portion of. the icing chamber will contain ice in quantity sufiicient for less than full capacity of the icing chamber. The adjustment of the ice receiving racksand their supporting beams from a lower to a higher position in the icing chamber is effected with comparative ease, and in both positions are held against turning in the pockets provided for their reception by the side flanges to the pockets and also prevented from sliding or being jolted from their seats by the stops which restrict longitudinal movement of the beams.

These features give greater stability to the parts and insure greater efiioiency.

The, partition or bulkhead which separates the loading compartment from the icing chamber is provided at the bottom with an opening 39, and atthe top with an opening 3! covered by a screen 32, for circulation of air between the icing chamber and the loading compartment. The ice pan 25 resting on top of floor 26 at the bottom of the icing chamber is preferably in a lower plane than floor 29 of the loading compartment and between upper floor 26 and sub-floor 28 is suitable insulation 2 The roof of the car will be of an approved construction and provided as usual with hatchways through which ice is supplied to the icing chamber as indicated in Figs. II and III.

While it is preferred to form brackets 35 of flanging metal which may be cut to permit side flanges 44 and shelf flange 45 to be pressed out- I wardly they may be of cast metal and the flanges cast as part of the brackets without departing from the essentials of that feature of the invention. a

, In order to break or intercept the drop orfall of meltage of ice or ice and salt from the ice rack when in its upper position down to the ice pan 25 at thebottom ofthe ice bunker and prevent thesplash from being thrown through the opening 30 at the bottom of the bulkhead 4 onto packages or commodities in the loading compartwith the force of the drop so lessened that the 'meltage will not be ejected from the bunker through opening 30 onto commodities in the loading compartment next to the opening, which if permitted might damage the packages.

These splash irons will be suitably hinged to side walls of the ice bunker or chamber so as to be folded'to lie parallel with the side walls when theice, racks are to be shifted from one elevation to another, and at other times stand out from the" walls at a downward and inward inclination, so that the-ice meltagewill becaught and directed by and from one-of the splash irons onto the next lower onegas illustrated. The

splash irons are each preferably formed of galvanized sheet metal plates 49,58 having arolled edge to prevent buckling and one or more butthinges 521, 53 forattachment of the splash irons to a suitable part of the bunkeror icing chamber. The plate 43 isattached by rivets Si l to a 1eaf 55 of hinge 52 and the butt 56 of-the hinge isattached by one or-more bolts 57 to the post l2 to whichscreen 16, is attached. The plate 593 of the oppositely disposedsplash iron is attached to a leaf 5% of the hinge -53, andthe butt 5 t-ih h e i a e ;trim e me e bolts 60 as illustrated. The plate 5%) has one end bent upward and back of the butt ES of hinge 53 and through which bolt 5i) passes to secure the parts securely in place. To the. lower face of plate 58, at its hinged end, is attached a stop 8!, preferably Lshaped, and secured by one of the rivets 62, and which serves to give to the splash iron the downward and inward inclination, when thestop platebears against one of the bulk head posts, when thes'plashiron isl'ow-v end, as illustrated in 'Fig. VII.- This splash iron may beswung upward, to lie parallelwithfthat side'ofYthe bunker or icing chamber, in which position it may beheld by a suitable hook (not shown) out of the path of the ice racks when the racks are to be shifted fromone eIeVation to another. In the airspace between the bulk head 4, and the'screen 8 islfittd a'slopmg defiec'tor plate 63, theupper: end of which is bolted to the bulk head by abolt 64,,and the lower end of which is bent-over the buttof hingebt and upper end of the splash iron plate 50 as shown. This sloping deflector plate prevents any ice or ice meltage dropping down the air space and through the opening at the bottom of thebulkhead, onto packages in the loading compartment. The splash iron 49 is held in its. inclined position by suitable means, say by a hook 65 pivotally connect'ed with the splash iron and having its other end bent or, hooked into the screen I5. When the ice rack is to be shifted from one position to another, the splash iron swings downward so as to lie-parallel with the screen, 5, and'beso held by a suitable hook, or other means (not shown). W

The splash irons will practically i cover the space-from side to side of the icing chamber, between the screened sides and: substantially one half the distance, more or.le ss, "between the front and rear side walls of the chamber, a'sdn':

the invention as sought to be defined by the appended claims.

We have illustrated and described the preferred details of the several features of the invention but changes may be made therein without departure from essential features sought to be defined by the appended claims.

The invention has been illustrated as embodied in a railway refrigerator car, but it will be understood that the construction may be embodied in other structures and embraced within the scope of our invention.

Having described our invention and set forth its merits, what we claim is:

1. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and posts within said chamber; a bracket-member formed with pockets to receive the ends of adjustable ice-rack supporting beams, and means for attachment of said bracket to said posts in the icing chamber at points selected to define icing capacity less than full icing capacity of the chamber.

2. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and posts within said chamber; a bracket member formed with pockets to receive the ends of adjustable ice-rack supporting beams, and means for attachment of said bracket to said, posts in the icing chamber at points selected to define icing capacity less than full icing capacity, said means comprising bolts passing through the bracket and a post in the icing chamber, and another bolt passed through the post adjacent to one of the first mentioned bolts and transversely thereto.

3. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and posts within said chamber; a bracket member formed with pockets to receive ends of adjustable ice-rack supporting beams, meansfor attachment of said bracket to said posts in theicing chamber,a substantially U-shaped metal band embracing said posts, said attachment means comprising bolts passing through said bracket and post and band, and another bolt passing through the post and the metal band transversely to the first mentioned bolts.

4. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and ice-rack supporting beams; a bracket formed with pockets to receive the ends of said beams, the bracket being also formed with outstanding flanges at opposite sides of said pockets to prevent the beams from turning in the pockets.

5. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and ice-rack supporting beams; a bracket formed with pockets to receive ends of said beams, the bracket being also formed with an outstanding flange at the bottom of the pockets to constitute a seat for ends of the beam fitting in the pocket.

6. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and ice-rack supporting beams; a bracket formed with pockets to receive ends of said beams, and a stop member projecting from the beams and positioned to contact with a part of the bracket to restrict the longitudinal movement of the beams.

'7. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber, ice supporting racks, and means for supporting the racks at diiferent elevations; splash irons within the chamber supported between upper and lower positions of the racks and extending inwardly from opposite walls of the icing chamber, for intercepting drippings of ice meltage on passing through the chamber, said irons being hinged at one end to permit them to fold substantially parallel with sides of the chamber in vertical adjustment of the racks.

8. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and ice supporting racks; a bulkhead having an opening at its lower end for communication between the icing chamber and loading compartment of the car, the bulkhead being spaced from the adjacent side of the icing chamber to form an air space between the two, a splash iron consisting of a plate and a butt-hinge attached to the inner face of the adjacent side of the icing chamber, a portion of said plate lying between the butt of the hinge and wall of the icing chamber, and an inclined deflector plate in the air space positioned above the opening at the lower end of the bulkhead to prevent ice meltage passing from the air space into the loading compartment, the lower portion of the deflector plate extending over the butt of the hinge and also upper extension of the splash iron plate.

9. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber, and ice supporting racks, splash irons within the chamber extending inwardly from oppositely disposed walls of the icing chamber for intercepting and directing meltage from ice in a tortuous course through the chamber, and means for supporting said splash irons in downwardly inclined position when in use and for supporting the splash irons in a substantially vertical position against the walls of the chamber when not in use.

10. In a refrigerator car, and other structures, having an icing chamber and ice supporting racks, a bulk-head having an opening at its lower end for communication between the icing chamber and loading compartment of the structure, the bulk-head being spaced from the adjacent side of the icing chamber to form an air space between the two, a downwardly inclined deflector plate in the air space positioned above the opening at the lower end of the bulk-head to close the bottom of the said air space and to deflect meltage from the ice into the ice chamber and away from the loading compartment.

EDWARD A. SWEELEY. NORMAN T. ANDERSON. 

